Trial and Error

I own nothing of the Potterverse, though if JKR was willing, I would give quite a bit to own Snape...

Please keep reviews coming! Any advice (nice advice, mind you) is welcome and
warm fuzzies are more than appreciated! :-*
On to the story....
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hermione ran from the dungeons and straight to Professor Dumbledore\'s office.
When she reached the gargoyle guarding the entrance, it leapt aside. She ran up the slowly
spiraling staircase and almost knocked a very shocked headmaster over when she reached the top.

\"Good evening, Miss Granger. I thought you were Severus coming up. Is everything al---good heavens,
what\'s wrong child?\"

Hermione was shaking her head and motioning frantically to the door.

\"Snape......upset......needs help....\" was all she could get out before Dumbledore swept past her and
down the stair well.

Hermione dow down in an overstuffed chair to catch her breath. She didn\'t really want to go back down
there right now, anyway, not until she had figured out exactly what happened, at least.

\'He cried, I comforted him, he asked me to leave, I stayed, he kissed me.\'

She thought this over and over, trying to find a connection that would have caused him to do what he did.
Then it finally hit her. \'I comforted him. He probably has never been comforted by anyone in his
life, save Dumbledore. But why would that make him feel the need to kiss me? I\'m his student.
He hates me. I am the insufferable-know-it-all and he is the bat from hades. Well, he\'s not THAT bad, but still...\'

Her thoughts were cut short when a crackling in the fire caught her attention. Dumbledore\'s head was
floating a few inches above the brick among the flames.

\"Hermione, can you come down here, please?\"

Hermione nodded her head and then ran back down the stairs and to the dungeons. She stopped when she
got to the door of Snape\'s bedchambers and looked through the crack; Dumbledore was sitting next to
Snape who was still on the bed with his head in his hands. His shoulders were shaking terribly and Hermione
felt the familiar tug at her heart. \'He must feel horrible. I should not have run away like that.\'

Steeling herself for whatever was going to happen, she opened the door and walked over to where the two men sat.
Snape looked up at her momentarily before closing his eyes in pain and shaking his head sorrowfully. Hermione
bit her lower lip in concern. \'Why is he acting this way?\'

Dumbledore took that moment to address her.

\"Hermione, would you be so kind as to join me in the next room?\"

She nodded and followed him into the lab. The headmaster spoke again.\"Se\"Severus has just informed me of the, er....incident. He wants you to know that nothing was meant by it and he is sorry for any....trauma...it may have caused.\"

Hermione started. \'Trauma? He thinks it caused me trauma??\'

\"It was only a bloody kiss!\"

Dumbledore grinned.

\"Well, I\'m glad you take that point of view on the matter. If you would be so kind as to tell Severus the same,
I would be much obliged. You see, he thinks he has scarred our most brilliant student for life and can\'t bare to
be responsible for such an atrocity.\" His eyes glittered boyishly and Hermione smiled at the old man.

\"Yes, Headmaster. I\'ll tell him.\"

Dumbledore beamed at her.

\"Well then, I must get back to my nightly ritual. Good luck to you and Hermione?\"

\"Yes?\"

\"Be easy on him, alright? He\'s had a long couple of days.\"

Before Hermione could fi out out what he meant by that, Dumbledore had already left the room, whistling the tune
to \"Weasley is our King\".
~*~*~*~

Severus sat on his bed, smothered in guilt and self-pity. Why had he given in to his temptations? She had only wanted
to comfort him, mother him even, but certainly NOT kiss him. He smacked his head. \'Severus, you did it again. You let
yourself get out of character for a moment and your mind went haywire. What made you even think she would accept you?
Do you even WANT her to accept you? She\'s a fucking student! You are a professor! You are a fucking DEATH EATER!\'

He stood up from his bed and stormed over to the window. Dark clouds surrounded his reflection and matched his scowl
perfectly. He had glared at himself for a moment, his mind still raging, when he noticed the clouds shifting away to
reveal a patch of moonlight. Severus whirled around and saw Hermione standing behind him, looking into the glass.

\"What are you doing here?\" he spat.

Hermione looked up at him and frowned. He had no right to snap at her after what he had done. She almost snapped
back before remembering what Dumbledore had told her. Swallowing her anger, she closed her eyes and said simply,
\"I forgive you.\"


Severus stared at her as though she was telling him the world was flat.

\"You what, Miss Granger?\"

\"I said, I...forgive....you. It isn\'t a difficult thing to understand, Professor.\"

\"I...yes, I know. Um..\" Severus had no idea what to say. He certainly was not expecting her to forgive him.
He was, for the first time in his life, at a loss for words. Thankfully, Hermione saved him from that.

\"It\'s okay, Professor. I know you were seeking comfort from a place that was unfamiliar to you. It wasn\'t your fault.
It really wasn\'t that big of a deal anyway, and I\'m sorry I ran off like that. I was just scared.\"

He nodded his head, wondering where the hell his sharp tongue had got to.

\"I\'m sorry I frightened you, Herm--Miss Granger.\"

Hermione allowed a small smile to grace her lips.

\"You can call me Hermione if I have permission to call you Severus.\"

He jumped at that, a memory coming back to him from the previous day...

\"You already called me that once. Why did you stop?\"

\"I...well, I didn\'t think you would appreciate having a student call you by your first name. I did it on accident, I guess.\"
She smiled sheepishly.

He nodded.

\"Well, you now have permission to call me Severus, Hermione,\" he said with a half smile playing about his face.
\"I think it would be a good idea for both of us to get some rest. Thank you again for understanding, Hermione.
I really don\'t know what I would have done if a *magnificent* student such as yourself was mortally wounded when
the greasy potions master kissed her.\"

Hermione gasped. Was she hearing correctly?

\"Yes, Hermione. You heard what I said. And no, I wasn\'t being *entirely* sarcastic. Of course, Albus gave me a
delayed relaxation potion before you came, so what I said may very well be the result of said potion.\" He shrugged
his shoulders and smiled sleepily. He closed his eyes and yawned but jumped when he felt arms wrap around his waist.

\"Wh..Hermione?\"

\"Just giving you a goodnight hug, Severus. You\'ve been through a lot and I think you need one.\" She gave him one more
squeeze and trotted to the door. When she reached it, she looked back at the puzzled Professor and smiled shyly at him.

Severus touched his waist where her arms had been and let a true smile fall on his face. \'She doesn\'t hate me. She\'s not
afraid of me. She gave me a goodnight hug! Wow, that potion is potent.\' He made his way over to his bed and collapsed
onto it, not bothering to pull back the covers, and fell into a not-so-unpleasant sleep.
~*~*~*~

Hermione woke up the next morning to the sound of scratching and screeching. She groggily got out of bed and walked
over to the door. When she opened it, two owls flew into her room and landed with soft \'thups\' on her bed. Hermione
looked at them quizzically. She had never seen either of them before. She closed her door and went over to the first
owl who had a package tied to its legs. After taking it off, she handed the owl some crackers that she kept on her nightstand.
She opened the package and let out a delighted squeal; Several items fell out onto her bed when she turned the box over.
There was a black shirt wrapped around a miniature statue of Liberty, a red, and blue witches hat with white stars, a homemade
apple pie (that kept refilling itself, as she found out later), and a very odd looking red ceramic wolf adorned with gold stars.
She opened up the shirt that had been wrapped around the statue; it I h I heart NY on it. \'I thought he was going to
California.\' She put he shirt down and rummaged through the pile of stuff until she found a roll of paent.ent. She quickly
unfurled it and began to read.

-------
Dear Hermione,

I am safe and doing well. I thank you for your concern.

I was over joyed when I read your letter. Good for you to make the potion on your own! I am so proud! I hope Stone
isn\'t given you a hard time.

I am staying with old school acquaintances right now. They have two darling children (both like me) who wanted to write
to you, so I sent their letters along with another owl. I hope you don\'t mind.

I bought the gifts , ev, even though the shirt and statue suggest otherwise. You\'d be amazed at how many different
State souvenirs you can buy in this State! I charmed the children\'s letters so only you could read them, because
they hold more information than this letter. Say what the boggart turned into during your test in third year and they
will open up.

I must run now, Hermione. The kids are begging me to play with them again.

Take care!

R. J. L.

-------

Hermione laughed at the thought of Remus playing with little children. \'He sure seems like the fatherly type,\' she thought.
She reached for the letters attached to the other owl\'s legs. After untying them and giving the second owl a cracker, she
put the letters side by side on her bed and said, \"Professor McGonagall telling me I failed everything.\"

Sure enough, both letters opened up on her bed. She picked up the nearest one and read:


----
Deer Hermyowny,

thank you for makeing the potion [Hermione noticed that the word \'poison\' had been scratched out]. me and my
bruther are very happy. its not fun to be a were wolf. i dont like terning in to one. it hurts bad. thank you a lot!

luv,

BeRNadeTTe
-----

Hermione was almost in t, bu, but she read the second one anyway.

----

Dear Hermione,

Uncle Remus told my sis and me that you are making an anti lycanthropy potion. Thank you so much!!! My mom and
dad are very sad about us being werewolves. Uncle Remus is making it easier for them, though. Good luck!!!! Hoooowwwwllll!!!
Get it? Howl like a wolf!

Bye!

Aiden
------

Now she really was in tears. Those poor kids. They would never have a chance at a normal childhood unless she and
Severus were successful with the potion.
She put the letters and gifts on her nightstand and went to the bathroom to shower. She needed to get a head start on
the potions today, for the sake of those two kids if nothing else.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


To all my reviewers: I know everyone is going to complain that Sev is ooc, but remember...he had just taken a relaxation potion. It started working when he called Hermione a brilliant student. Not a very Snapey thing to say. Don\'t worry. He is NOT going to treat Hermione like a lover from here on out. That would be waaaay too strange.

**animegrl- Remus always seems off around Tonks and Hermione because both woman play a role in his love life. Tonks likes him and he likes Hermione. Does that explain it? :-)

**Deb- Thanks!

**Shem- yours are always my favourite reviews. You can make me feel good about myself and like a piece of sall all at the same time. :) I hope this chapter made you feel better about her running off. She\'s a young girl who hasn\'t had much experience. Hell, I\'d run if it was me. Of course, I would come back and beg him to take me, but Hermione is too proper for that. :)

I want to write personally to everyone who reviewed, but I have an early English class tomorrow morning and need sleep. :-p I will write to everyone who reviews this chapter though. I promise. :)

Love to all!!

-Gwen